Azad Ashim Sharma is a poet living in South London. Between 2011 and 2017 Azad studied English Literature and Critical Theory at the University of Sussex. In 2017 Azad's first collection of poetry, ‘Against the Frame,’ was published by Barque Press. This collection engages with the concept of trauma as a result of the experiences of on-going conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Additionally, these poems explore the vulnerability of Azad's complex Islamic-Hindu hybrid identity and experiences of xenophobia in a political landscape punctuated by Donald Trump, Brexit, and the rise of new fascisms. Extracts of ‘Against the Frame’ have appeared in Tripwire (USA) and Pratik (Nepal). Azad has also performed his poetry at: Words in the Garden (New Delhi, India), RAPAPUK (Cambridge, UK), and more regularly at Hi Zero (Brighton). In 2018 Azad co-founded the87press, a publisher of experimental literatures. In December 2018, Azad’s first publication since his debut collection, ‘To Gurgaon,’ was released by amberflora. Azad’s second book ‘Boiled Owls: A Narcopoetics of Postcolonial Madness’ is forthcoming on the87press in 2019. Azad is currently studying for an MA Creative and Critical Writing at Birkbeck College, University of London